Can Anything Good Come Out Of Nazareth? Evans Olang

John 1:45-51, “45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

I am constantly battling to see good things come out of me and my surrounding. The bible already says, “There is nothing good in us (that is in ourselves)…”, you may find yourself in this dilemma too sometimes. When you have waited for so long, labored hard, did all you could but still wonder if anything good can come out of you? You might have a habit you have been trying to get rid of for years, it has left you crippled in some way and you are constantly thinking, “Can any good thing come out of me even in this situation?” At times you want to rip off what is standing on the way of your victory because you can feel it, sense it, see it but you can’t seem to find a way to get it.

I have not studied the history of Nazareth but by listening to what Nathanael had to say, there was something about it that couldn’t allow him to see anything good coming out of it. Maybe the sins in that city were great and if we look at the records, we see Jesus having a hard time in Nazareth where He grew up. Many were offended and wanted to cast Him out, the bible says that twice He was expelled from the city, there was unbelief among other things wrong with this city. From the book of Genesis to the book of Malachi, there were prophesies of birth of Jesus mentioned and how He would become the King, Messiah, Emanuel, Lord, born of a virgin in Bethlehem. If a baby like that would be born today, they would find the best city, hospital, in other words, the best place to have him. It will be all over news. Jesus wasn’t like that, yet, He had all the titles born in a very simple life. So when Phillip approached Nathanael to give him the good news of having met Christ, the one they had all been waiting for, it did not make sense to him. To make it worse, Phillip referred to Him as Jesus of Nazareth. Who wants to be identified with a mess, broken things, broken city? Don’t we all want good things to come out of good places? We can put our focus on that good place and fail to understand that God’s ways are not our ways. 1Corinthians 1:27, “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are might“. While we tend to program ourselves as to how God will move and if He does not move as expected and anticipated, we get frustrated, God is God and He will do what is best for Him through His children. Don’t focus on how He moves, focus on this thought, HE MOVES.

John 1:46, “… Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”. Can anything good come out of your position at work; in your marriage you think is not amounting to anything; a child that is just out of place, giving you a hard time, or been sick for years or trying to stop a habit and nothing is happening? You may be like Nathanael who could not see beyond the sins and failures in Nazareth,. People who cannot see beyond their weakness and failures are always left wondering whether there is anything good left reserved for such people in spite of who they are. We praise God for the great things He is doing even in the midst of all the things we do not see Him use to bring that which is good. Christ began a good work in us and He will be faithful to complete it even when we cannot see boldness, courage, strength, joy, peace, healing, victories etc. in the radar. It’s not a matter of how we feel and what we think we know, it’s a matter of who comes out of the city that matters.

Christ came out of Nazareth in spite of Nathanael’s thought. Jesus revealed Himself at that point, John 1:49, “Then Nathanael declared, Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel. vs. 50, ” Jesus said, …. You shall see greater things than that”. Praise God because we will see Him do things, and greater things than this shall we see. Jesus makes disappointments into appointments, junks into assets, mess into order, and doubt into faith. Next time you see something or someone or in yourself that nothing good could come out of you, may you be reminded that it can because of Him, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Blessings Evans

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